In the more modern supermarkets, checkout counters are not only equipped with cash registers and like terminals which may be coupled with a store computer or even a computer associated with a chain of stores for recording the purchase, calculating the total cost and, possibly, controlling the store inventory as a result of the particular purchase, but also with automatic devices for responding to the particular product purchased so as to facilitate checkout and inventorying processes.
To this end, practically all products available for sale in a supermarket or like establishment and certainly almost all staples, are packaged in such a way that a bar code is provided upon the item and can be detected by a laser pick up of a bar code reader when the item is passed over or in the region of the bar code reader.
The information contained in the bar code generally identifies the particular product and this identification is detected by the bar code reader and fed to a computer which determines the price of the particular article or item and automatically records this price at the checkout terminal. Simultaneously, the computer can monitor the number of each particular item sold as an inventory control measure and can even be programmed to order the particular item as stocks are depleted or to maintain a particular level of such stocks.
However, the consumer is not readily able to ascertain anything of value from the bar code. For this reason, items are generally packaged with various indicia identifying the contents, ingredients and net weight or other indication of the quantity of the contents of a particular package.
It is also imperative for effective supermarket communications that the particular package be labeled with the price of the package and, possibly, with other information including date of packaging, price per unit weight (unit price) and whatever other indicia may be necessary to permit a shopper to exercise proper judgement.
In supermarkets, however, the pricing or price labeling of individual items is a time consuming and expensive practice and the failure of such labeling frequently leads to slow downs at checkout counters and interference with routine processing of supermarket sales or purchases. There also may be changes in prices because of increased cost or a promotional sale. These changes may not be evident to the customer. Furthermore the conventional systems inhibit spontaneous sales or promotional price reductions.